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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney# ]+ H1 A; z+ n1 u1 d# ~1 O8 i
I9 H+ d4 f2 g' GRichard J. Brennan
$ }" L% N' P7 a& s: Y" i5 X: ZNational Affairs Writer % J7 T& t. P0 T9 Z7 C. Q
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5 \' b3 d0 k. d+ N; XImmigration Minister Jason Kenney confirmed Wednesday that as many as 1,800 new Canadians could be stripped of their citizenship because they were obtained fraudulently.
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[; r2 D6 s7 t& q; W- w4 r“We are in the process of notifying them that we will be revoking their citizenship because Canadian citizenship is not for sale,” Kenney told the Economic Club of Canada.
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1 |& S* H- K& g, W/ EKenney said some of the individuals are believed to have used “unscrupulous” immigration consultants who submitted fraudulent applications on behalf of people who did not meet the qualifications for citizenship.
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The 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.; t f* u4 {! H0 Q3 {# m
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“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country.* F$ [: s' q7 i- N( t r" h; ?
' W, z7 U, ^2 h8 pThey can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.7 j2 w9 b8 L' Q# S2 o
w! t6 }9 \- v' |Citizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.
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Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
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U* m& J8 A8 H7 w6 T a“For those who simply touch down and try to get a Canadian passport as a … passport of convenience, who don’t pay our taxes but who do consume our social benefits, I think that’s dishonourable,” he told reporters after delivering a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.
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“There are many ways that we are combating immigration fraud and abuse of our generosity, whether it is from [bogus] asylum claimants, crooked immigration consultants, people smugglers [or] people who are abusing our citizenship program,” he said.
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7 n: V! H& w! q# \ h7 iKenney also announced that Canada will soon be introducing multi-year visas for low-risk visitors from around the world that will last 10 years. |
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